


The Wrath of Heaven

by WhiteSummoner



Series: Dragon Age Inquisition [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition, Others later - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/M, Multi, Multiple Crossovers, Multiverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-06-27 19:29:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15691899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteSummoner/pseuds/WhiteSummoner
Summary: The Chantry Conclave was to be Divine Justinia’s attempt and final hope to broker peace between the Mages and Templars to end their war. My Keeper sent me to the Conclave to spy on the proceedings. I had no idea how this was going to end or if there will truly be peace between the Mages and Templars who were always at odds for centuries, or for Thedas or anyone. Nor did I expect that everything will soon change, for me . . . . and for her.My name is Mahanon Lavellan, First to the Keeper of my Clan Lavellan, will you listen to my story?





	1. Divine Intervention or Just Plain Dumb Luck?

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo this is my first fanfic anything I’ve posted so I’m a bit . . . . nervous. Not sure if I’m doing the tags right. 
> 
> This Dragon Age Inquisition fic is supposed to be part of this long series of stories or different parts of one huge continuous crossover story that’s been sitting in my computer and my head for a loooong time and chronologically this one was supposed to be in the latter stages of the story. But I have like soooooo many stories/parts whatever still partly finished or unfinished in my computer/head (it’s ridiculous) that I just thought ‘screw it, I’ll just put it up now cause if I wait I may never put it up, and IF I get the rest or some earlier one done then I can just put them in order later.’ So finally I’ve managed to gather the nerve to put it up here, if only one. For now. May or may not edit somethings in the story. We'll see.
> 
> I’d like to thank my proofreader (aka mom) for looking over it for me, even if I had to explain to her that Dragon Age Inquisition is a video game, she will be my main editor for everything. Unless it involves some . . . . . explicit content then I’d have to turn to my ‘other’ editor.

_Now is the hour of our victory._

_Someone! Please help me!_

What’s going on?

_Run while you can! Warn them!_

What?

_We have intruders. Slay them!_

NO!

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

 

_Where am I_? I thought to myself when I awoke to find myself in a dark place, lying on a rocky terrain with a dark green mist spread across the area.

“Where is this? The Fade? But how? Am I asleep?” I muttered.

I remember entering the Temple of Sacred Ashes to spy on the Conclave, but I didn’t recall falling asleep, did I fall asleep without noticing . . . . Or am I awake? Did I enter the Fade somehow; while physically awake instead of the usual sleeping dreams? But how is that possible? Creators, how did spying on the Conclave end up me being in the Fade like this?

As a mage, visiting the Fade, the dream realm of spirits and demons and the source of all the world’s magic, shouldn’t be a strange thing for me. Well it shouldn’t be if I were a sleep and visited in my dreams, not when I am awake and feeling more . . . . real than it ever felt before. If I am indeed in the Fade while awake (which is shouldn’t be possible) it was completely different from what I remember when I visit the Fade in my dreams. I was on what seemed like a cliff, it was dark, like night without any stars, wispy green mist arose from the stony ground, the air crackled with strange green bolts of light, I sensed the Fade’s magic permeated in the air.

I stood up, trying to gather my bearings, to see if there is anything I recognized only to find the whole place completely different. Nothing seemed familiar even from my dreams in the Fade. Deciding that standing around wouldn’t do my any good, since if this if this is the Fade, awake or asleep my presence might attract some unwanted attention, demons especially.

“Those Rage Demons are always a constant nuisance,” I muttered to myself.

I walked only a few feet when something caught my eye, something from among the sharp rocks protruding from the ground. Cautious, I approached it slowly until I was close enough to recognize it was a pair of legs sticking out from behind the rocks. Did another become trapped here as well? Though I had no idea how. I rushed towards the rocks until I could see from the behind the rocks laid a young woman, a fellow elf by her ears. Did she end up here the same way as I? I tried waking her.

“Hello? Are you alright? Hey!”

She did not answer or even wake; aside from a few scratches and bruises (I have a few myself) she doesn’t appear to be hurt from what I can tell, but she seems to be unconscious. The young woman was fair skinned and had long blonde hair like myself (except my hair is short and a lighter shade) tied in a ponytail, she wore a green cloak and tunic over a thin chainmail and white shirt, white breeches, leather boots, gauntlets and gloves and a pointy green hat. Though she is an elf, her young face bore no Vallaslin facial tattoos indicating she’s either Dalish Elf who has yet to gain her Vallaslin or possibly a City Elf. On her back she bore a sword and a blue shield with a design or crest of some sort, suggesting she might be a warrior; but Creators, she couldn’t be more than eighteen or nineteen.

Well City or Dalish, I could not leave her here so vulnerable to possible demonic attacks. So taking her arm I lifted her up onto my back since she seemed small enough for me to carry and once I felt I could carry her without worrying she might slip I made my way across the terrain. As I walked across the rocky landscape trying to find some familiar surroundings that could somehow pinpoint where the Void we are, I began to wonder about the unconscious young girl on my back. How did she end up here? Granted if we are in the Fade then it was possible she came in the same way I did, even if I had no idea how.

“All right, I’ve been inside my head long enough, better to spend more time on figuring out how to get out of here then trying to guess her story. Will have plenty of time for that once we’re out of here. IF we get out of here. Creators . . . .”

Adjusting her until she was more secure on my back I noticed a stairway in the distance leading up towards somewhere and at the top stood a glowing figure. With nowhere else to go, I trekked my way towards the stair, passing through the mists.

“Well at least my legs are getting their exercise.”

After about half way up (I hope, the girl has still yet regained consciousness) the stairs when I heard an odd noise, like something was scurrying as well as some odd clicking scuttling noise.

‘ _What is that_?’ I thought.

I looked around for a moment before turning around to see something that made me wish I didn’t turn around. Behind me was a swarm of a several dozen, perhaps a hundred pairs of large glowing eyes, shining in the darkness, coming up the stairs towards us. It wasn’t long until they came close enough in what little light there was for me to realize that they were spiders, enormous spiders! Taking a moment to make sure the girl was still where she was, I continued climbing the stairs with greater speed this time. After several moments of climbing up, I could still hear the scurrying noise, I dared a chance to look back to see the spiders still chasing us and closing in, so I continued my ascension. I could hear them coming closer and closer as my desperation grew more and more until I feared they might overtake us before long.

A few moments then, my fears were realized when one of the spiders scurried ahead of the group and lunged towards us, legs, fangs and all. Without thinking, I reached out, conjuring a ball of flame in my palm for a moment before I fired it, hitting the spider and making it fall back in a scorching ball. But then another took its place, lunging at us and again, with my fire magic, I burned it as well. But before I was ready for another attack, three more came at us at once, I tried to conjure another fireball but I feared I was too slow and it would be too small to take all three.

But just when the beasts were upon us, a burst of golden light surrounded us, knocking the three spiders back. And not only did it knock back the spiders that attacked us, but the sudden bright light seemed to have an effect on the rest as they retreated away from us, screeching and scurrying away like it was too bright or it caused them pain. The light blinded me for a moment before it dimmed down enough for me to look around, trying to find the source of the light. It took me a second to realize that it came from the girl, or more precisely, the back of her right hand. Her entire hand glowed in that same golden light for a few moments before it died until it left behind a strange symbol on her skin, a golden triangle.

_‘_ _What was that, some kind of magic? Is she a mage too? And what is that odd symbol_?’ I thought to myself.

I’ve never seen magic (if it is magic) like that before, I gazed at her hand in wonder at those golden triangle marks for a moment before the golden color faded until it was gone like it was never there. I stared at her hand for a while longer before I finally convinced myself it was gone and turned my attention to the girl who was still unconscious somehow. Not even the light seemed to have woken her either.

“Who are you?” I wondered before adding “and how is it you’re still asleep after all that? If I were me I’d be up after that last fireball.”

Heh, look at me finding humor at a time like this.

Scuttle. Scuttle. Scuttle.

Damn it! They’re coming back. I cursed myself for being distracted and turned to run up the stairs. But the stairs seemed endless, like we were doomed to either be on the run forever or overcome by those spiders. And just when I thought we would be lost in the Fade, I realized that we were close to the top and there standing at the top of the stairs stood the glowing figure. Who she was, a spirit of the Fade, I knew not, but with the spiders closing in on us I didn’t care who or what she was.

“Please help us!” I begged at her. She outstretched her hand to me, without a thought I reached my hand to her inching close, closer until . . . . the next thing that came after was a bright flash of light and I found myself outside . . . somewhere still carrying the girl on my back. She was still unconscious and I found my own starting to ebb away. I tried to stand up right but . . . my vision grew hazy and I . . . I can’t seem to . . . . The last thing I remember was feeling so tired and the ground suddenly came closer to my face until it came into contact with my forehead.

It was snowing.

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

 

CLINK!

My eyes shot wide as I awoke with a start. It was dark, the only light were the flickering flames of a few torches, the sound of dripping water falling on stone reached my ears. I looked up to find myself in what seemed to be a dungeon of sorts with iron shackles around my wrists, barred cells and wooden stocks lined the walls. Any possessions I had since the Conclave was gone; perhaps confiscated by . . . whoever put me here. Next thing I noticed were the humans, soldiers around me, their swords drawn and pointed at me.

Before I could even properly analyze (and panic) my dark situation (no pun intended), a sharp pain shot through my left hand and up my arm, I turned to see a green light flare and spark with a crackling sound. Having no idea where it came from or why my hand was glowing like that, I clenched and unclenched my hand as the light crackled again. I had no idea what was causing it, most likely it was made of magic of some sort but I’ve never seen such magic (if it is magic) and its unusual nature was in none of my studies that I remember. Then in the corner of my eye I saw a figure lying next to me, I turned to look and took me a few moments to remember it was the young elf girl. She didn’t look any worse then she already was before, though she didn’t look much better either, despite that someone seemed to have at least tended to her injuries. And she still seemed to be unconscious. Now that we were in the waking world, I could get a proper look at the girl; she couldn’t be older than eighteen or nineteen years and like me, her wrists were shackled and her possessions, including her sword and shield were also gone. Taken by the humans no doubt.

I looked up to the humans standing around us with their swords, most likely  standing guard, for Creators’ know what reason. Though none of them seemed to notice or see this as an opportunity to take advantage of an unconscious young female elf. That’s good at least, for the moment. But despite that, even though she was a stranger to me, she is still a fellow elf (Dalish or not) if they decide to try something . . . .

“Nngh . . .”

The girl then began to stir making the guards shifting and gripping their swords tighter and after a few moments later she opened her eyes.

“Colin!” she shouted before lifting her upper body and started shouting in an unknown language.

This surprised me, as well as the guards when two of them stepped back in shock. She sat up and was about to turn around when she realized she was bound in irons.

“Wha – ”

She blinked a few times, glancing around the room for a moment before setting her sights upon me, looking at me with large eyes as blue as the sea.

 “Glad to see you’re awake Da’len, I was beginning to worry I would have to face these men alone” I said as calmly as I could muster after that outburst. What she said the moment she woke, it sounded like a name. Who was she calling? An associate or companion of hers perhaps?

She blinked again and spoke in that strange language when she stopped and spoke in the Common Tongue with a strange accent.

“What . . . what is this place, where am I? Where is my stuff?” She said as she looked around.

I cannot place her odd accent, it was nothing that I’ve ever heard before during my clan’s travels.

“I’m afraid we are in a dungeon of sorts and it seems you and I” I lifted my own bound hands “are someone’s prisoner. As for your belongings and my own . . . . . if I had to guess they are possibly in the possession of whoever is holding us.”

Looking quite shocked and understandably confused, she looked up to notice the guards still standing over us with their swords still drawn; their shock from her outburst now gone and their resolve of their duties returned. She opened her mouth to respond when the sound of a door slamming open and in walked two women, a tall woman with short dark hair and wearing armor, the other was red head and wearing a purple hood. The dark haired woman slowly walked around me, not saying a word. The second woman, the red head, stood in front of me, she too said nothing. And neither did I. For a moment it seemed neither will speak up when the dark haired woman spoke.

“Tell me why we shouldn’t kill you and your co – conspirator now.”

_‘_ _My . . . co – conspirator_?’ I thought.

I frowned at that comment. The short haired woman tilted her head to my right; I followed her gaze towards the young girl, who looks just as confused as I am at the woman’s accusation and assumption that we knew each other.

“The Conclave is destroyed; everyone who attended is dead. Except you two.”

The girl leaned towards me and whispered “what conclave are they talking about?”

It took me a moment to realize that she was serious. But before I even got a word out, the short haired woman grabbed my left hand pulling it up, the light glowed in my face; I winced when the iron shackles dug into my wrists.

“Explain this.”

She threw my wrist down, the strange light crackled again.

“I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t?”

Both women began to circle us, the woman in the hood remained silent, as if she was watching us, paying close attention to . . . . something.

“I don’t know what that is, or how it got there.” I glanced towards the girl who also didn’t seem to know what that was either when she shook her head.

The dark haired woman seemed to have lost her patience (if she had any) when she lunged at me grabbing the collar of my tunic.

“You’re lying.”

Thankfully the other woman pulled her away; the dark haired woman looked like she wanted to throttle me.

“We need them, Cassandra.”

The dark haired woman let go with an annoyed huff and stepped away from me.

“No, we may need **him** ,” the short haired woman, Cassandra if I heard right, gestured or rather glared at me before she added “we have no use for the other” she cocked her head to the girl next to me. “Unless she has the answers we need.”

The girl shifted back just a bit with a hint of nervousness on her face; that I understand completely.

“We don’t know that for sure,” the hooded red haired woman then addressed me “she is your companion yes?” She asked as she walked around until she stood over the girl; the girl in question tilted her head up, obviously knowing full well she was being observed very closely.

“If you answer our questions truthfully, then we will make sure no harm will come to you or her.”

Cassandra snorted making the other give her what I took to be a small but stern warning look.

“Well? Will you answer our questions?” the red head asked.

 “I – I don’t . . .”

“Do you remember what happened? How this began?” the red head, I still don’t know her name, asked.

Unlike Cassandra who seemed straight forward and aggressive with barely controlled anger, this one had an air of quiet restrain and calmness, like a silent shadow but in no way any less dangerous than her companion if not more. It seemed to me that this one was a far more capable interrogator. If only I knew what was going on. Nonetheless I tried to think hard, whatever the last few things I remembered; **I** would like to know what was happening.

“I remember running. I was carrying her,” I turned my attention the young girl, she looked up at me confused. “You were unconscious.”

“I was?” she asked.

“Why?” the red head woman asked.

“I don’t, I don’t know, she was just . . . . out cold. **Things** were chasing us, and then . . . a woman?”

“A woman?” she asked, for a moment I could have sworn there was a hint of shock on her face before it vanished.

“She reached out to me, but then . . .” my mind went blank, why can’t I remember anything?

“And you?” the red head turned her attention to my ‘companion,’ “do you remember anything? Do you remember why you were unconscious?”

The woman asked in a slightly more gentle tone, as if either trying to calm the girl or at least feign that gentleness to get her to open up. I’d put my money on the latter, after all we’re both suspects of a . . . . . crime; what it is I’m not even sure. The girl, it seems to have suspected the same or at least she knew she was being interrogated, that the red head was trying to get her to lower her guard.

“I . . . .” she spoke her words as if either trying to choose it or figure out how to explain something she understood as much as he. “I’m not even sure either. I remember being in that building.”

“The Temple of Sacred Ashes you mean?” The red head asked.

“If you mean the big building filled with candles and statues of women holding bowls of fire then yeah,” the red head raised an eyebrow before looking at Cassandra with the same expression (and mine possibly) most likely wondering how could she not know about the Temple of Sacred Ashes let alone be in the temple in the first place?

Cassandra glowered at the girl, “how could you be in the temple and not know about–”

The red head cut her off, “What else do you remember?”

The girl looked thoughtful, “I remember . . . a bright light, something loud and shaking.”

“And what else?”

“Um . . . darkness, then waking up here,” she finished, lifting her chained wrists before, raising a hand to her head, wincing as if in pain. “Why does my head hurt?”

As if Cassandra thought they weren’t getting anywhere or the answers they wanted she went to the red head’s side.

“Go to the forward camp, Leliana. I will take him to the rift,” said Cassandra.

But before the red head, or Leliana left, one of the guards who was watching us spoke up, “wait, Lady Cassandra, Lady Nightingale.”

“What is it?!” Cassandra said impatiently.

The harshness of her voice startled him a bit, fumbling with his words before responding “the elf girl, said something before you came in. In some strange language I think.”

“You think?”

“Yes,” another guard spoke up “she said something but we didn’t understand what she said, it wasn’t in the King’s tongue.”

Blast! She did say something when she woke up; though I had no idea what. Leliana eyes narrowed with renewed suspicion but it was Cassandra’s eyes that lit up with new fire and the need for blood, the girl’s blood now that her attention is on her.

“What did you say before we came in here?!” she grabbed the front of the girl’s tunic and shook her violently, “Speak! What did you say!?”

“I just said where was I and what am I doing here! And I don’t know what you’re talking about destroying some Conclave!”

Cassandra looked enraged and lifted her other hand as if to strike her when, to my unexpected relief, Leliana stepped forward and stopped her.

“We do not have time for this; we must get the prisoner to the rift. We’ll deal with the other one later.”

Cassandra scoffed but roughly released the girl and proceeded to unshackling my bonds. I did not like the way Leliana said about ‘dealing’ with the girl, nor did I like the look in the eyes some of the guards when I noticed them staring at her. Their leering gazes indicated some . . . . ill intent, the fact she was an elf and easy on the eyes was bad enough, but adding if they already decided she was guilty of whatever it was they thought we were guilty of? It made me worry about her safety if she was left alone with them, despite (I just remembered) that she was a stranger to me. Well, stranger or not, if my assumptions prove to be true I could not bring myself to leave a defenseless girl here with them.

“I’m not going,” I said with more oddly bravado than I felt.

“What?” Cassandra asked, Leliana looked at me inquisitively.

“You want me to go with you, she comes with us,” gesturing to the girl, who looked at me with confusion.

Cassandra looked like she wanted to hit me too when she grabbed me again, “you think you’re in any position to make demands?” but before I could even move Leliana spoke first.

“We don’t have any more time to delay, just take them both to the rift,” and with that she left the dungeons.

Whether it was Leliana noticing the guards as well, or guessing my worries or she wasn’t in the mood to argue, I didn’t care at the moment. As long the girl is anywhere but here that was fine. Cassandra grunted before she unshackled me and bound my hands and did the same with the girl.

Once we were both secured to Cassandra’s liking I asked, “what **did** happen?”

She was silent for a moment that at first I thought she wouldn’t answer me when she said, “it will be easier to show you.”

She led us both out of the dungeons, towards upstairs of the building we were in. A guard opened the door leading outside, it was cold and snowing, the light of the sun blinded me for a moment after spending Creators’ knows how long we’ve been down in the dark dungeons. I looked around for a moment, noticing that we were in a small village before I turned upwards to the sky and all I could think of was; ‘ _What in the name of Creators_?’

What I mistook for the sun, was in fact an enormous swirling green hole in the sky that seemed to ooze out a vortex of some kind of . . . . . strange energy. Was it magic? I was so transfixed at the hole that I didn’t realize the girl was right behind me as she bumped into me, most likely not noticing that I stopped in my tracks.

“Ow! What –?”

I couldn’t even get a word out when the next thing she said was a single, “whoa.”

The girl said then something in her language that sounded something like awe before she asked in Common Tongue, “what is that?”

“We call it ‘the Breach.’ It’s a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour. It’s not the only such rift, just the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the Conclave,” Cassandra explained.

“So the bright light, the loud noise, the shaking . . . .” the girl stated.

“Was most likely the explosion, yes,” said Cassandra.

“An explosion can do that?” I asked, trying to wrap my head around such a phenomenon.

“This one did. Unless we act, the Breach may grow until it swallows the world.”

Suddenly a thunderous crack sounded and a green lightning shot from the Breach, at that moment a surge of pain shot from my marked hand making me fall to my knees. The light from my hand crackled and the pain coursed through my arm, I tried to close my hand but the light bleed through my fingers. The girl bent next to me, asking if I was ok while staring with shock at my hand.

Cassandra knelt in front of me and spoke, her tone marginally softer “each time the Breach expands, your mark spreads . . . and it is killing you. It may be the key to stopping this. But there isn’t much time.”

I tried to keep my voice calm, but the pain from the ‘mark’ was making it increasingly difficult, “you say it may be the key . . . to doing what?”

“Closing the Breach, whether that’s possible is something we shall discover shortly. It is our only chance however, and yours,” said Cassandra, eyeing my hand.

“And you still think I did this? To myself?” I asked, as if anyone could be that stupid.

“Not intentionally. **Something** clearly went wrong,” she said.

By now the pain had almost subsided, if only leaving a tingling sensation “and if I’m, if neither of us are responsible?”

“Someone is. And you two are our only suspects. You wish to prove your innocence? This is the only way.”

I did not like where this could leave me. Not only I am being charged with mass murder (with a so called accomplice these humans believed) I now have this strange mark of unknown magic on my hand that not only is it killing me but could also be the key to stopping the ‘Breach’ from, what she said; ‘swallowing the entire world?’ But even if I did somehow managed to pull that off I could still be blamed for killing the Divine and everybody in the Temple of Sacred Ashes and they would no doubt demand my head. And the girl’s head too, of course there is no proof of her innocence in all this either now that I think of it. Then again even if there was no proof of her guilt either, but the humans would gladly execute her anyhow if they just wanted a scapegoat.

‘ _Creators, what have I gotten myself into now_?’ I thought.

Well either way we’re both in the same boat as mass murder suspects and she has yet to place any blame on it on me, not mention that she too was shocked to see a massive how in the bloody sky. So the possibility she too is innocent, is there. Taking a deep breath I sighed, since Cassandra made it clear that I have little choice for the moment, might as well move forward and see where this leads me.

“Fine.” I said, “I understand.”

“Then . . . .” Cassandra said.

“I’ll do what I can. Whatever it takes,” I said.

“And you,” Cassandra addressed the girl, “we agreed that you would come with us at his request, but if you do anything suspicious or if you attempt to run, know this; if you are not within my sight, every guard is under orders to kill you on sight and I should warn you, there is no shortage of people who are most anxious to do so. Do I make myself clear?”

The girl was silent for a moment when she grunted and shrugged, “not like I much of a choice anyhow,” she said as she glanced up at the Breach, “not if that thing could kill everyone else anyway if you say.”

Cassandra frowned at the girl’s defiance but did not retort as I expected her to, instead Cassandra said, “none of us have much choice.”

With that Cassandra and the girl helped me to my feet. Cassandra pushed us both through the village with more people, humans, milling about the tents and cabins with somber expressions. It wasn’t until they saw us is when that solemn air turned angry and hostile in almost an instant.

“They have decided your guilt. They need it. The people of Haven mourn our Most Holy, Divine Justinia, Head of the Chantry, the Conclave was hers. It was a chance for peace between mages and templars. She brought their leaders together, now they are dead,” Cassandra explained as more people began to crowd around us, yelling and shouting profanities at us.

The girl, for some reason didn’t seem to hear or perhaps was ignoring the hostilities being thrown at her when she stopped and was staring at something. Cassandra noticed and called her to keep up when one of the villagers tried to grab at the girl when Cassandra placed herself between the girl and her aggressor. They asked why was Cassandra protecting us, calling us ‘murderers,’ blaming us for the Divine’s death and demanding that we should be hanged. Cassandra pulled the girl away from the mob before more got their hands on her and stood her ground before the crowd ordering them to stand down.

If it wasn’t for Cassandra being with us, I was almost certain the humans would immediately do us harm, even kill us if they could. It took awhile before the crowd finally stepped back clearing the way out of the village, but before it dissipated, taking advantage of the commotion, the girl slipped by me. At first I thought she was trying to take cover when she quietly moved towards one of the nearby tents and quickly went inside. After a moment she came out carrying a small ornate leather satchel and tucked it under her tunic. Once the theft was done she turned to see me watching her. I silently gave her a look which she only responded with a shrug. After Cassandra finally cleared the path of angry humans, we continued our way through the village. Cassandra didn’t seem to notice the theft nor did any of the villagers and I wasn’t about to be the one to mention it so I kept my mouth shut. Hopefully I won’t come to regret it.

Thankfully we passed through a gate exiting out of the village unscathed Cassandra continued to explain the situation.

“We lash out, like the sky. But we must think beyond ourselves, as she did. Until the Breach is sealed.”

I could hear the grief in her voice as she spoke, was she close to the Divine I wonder. We stopped on a stone bridge outside the village with soldiers occupied it with various equipment and weapons as if they were expecting a siege . . . . . or a war, while some soldiers sat on the ground or on crates, many looked lost or forlorn. Dead bodies wrapped in cloth lay lined up on the ground across the bridge. Who were they fighting against and what for? Was it demons Cassandra mentioned before? She did say the Breach was some sort of . . . . rift or doorway into the world of demons.

Cassandra pulled out a dagger and faced us, “there will be a trial. I can promise no more” she declared when she cut our bonds “come, it is not far.”

“Where are you taking us?”

“Your Mark must be tested on something smaller than the Breach. Open the gate! We are heading to the valley.”

Passing the gate we came upon a mountainous path leading up to the swirling vortex with more soldiers and barricades standing ready, waiting for . . . . something. Cassandra led the way with me and the girl trailing behind. I looked at the girl wondering if she really did have anything to do with the explosion, was she really capable of killing masses of people? For whatever reason? She seemed so young and innocent that she couldn’t possibly be a mass murderer; but then again looks can often be deceiving. As a mage I should know that turn of phrase very well. And I still have what the contents were in that bag she took.

“So . . . .” to my surprise the girl said quietly so Cassandra wouldn’t hear I assume, “ **did** you blow up that Conclave thing she was going on about?”

I should have expected her to ask but somehow it still surprising to hear her ask it, but she did sounded like she genuinely had no idea what was going on.

“Actually I was going to ask the same thing Da’len.”

“Did you just call me ‘darling?’” She asked giving me a near indignant look.

“No, I said ‘Da’len,’ it means child in elven,” I said, she looked even more indignant that somehow amused me.

So she was unfamiliar with elven making it even less evident that she is Dalish, the girl – then it hit me, I have no idea what her name was.

“What is your name?” I asked.

“Why do you want to know my name?” She asked with sudden suspicion; I tried not to roll my eyes.

“If the shemlens believe us to be accomplices of the same crime, we might as well be acquainted or at the very least know each other’s name.”

She gave me a confused look, “shemlens?”

I blinked, “shemlens; the humans?” I added helpfully.

She looked even more confused, “but aren’t you . . . .”

“I am an elf, like you are,” I gestured to her ears.

By instinct she reached up to her ears then merely said, “ah.”

I wasn’t sure how to interpret her response while I added “although I am Dalish.”

“Dalish?”

Now **I’m** genuinely confused, even if she wasn’t Dalish, she should at least know what the Dalish are as most City Elves did. She is a City Elf, isn’t she?

“You are a City Elf, yes?”

She looked at me as if trying to process my question in her head when she finally answered “I live in a city back home if that’s what you mean,” somehow I get the sneaking suspicion that the term ‘City Elf’ she was thinking was not the same as mine.

“And where is home if I may ask?”

She didn’t answer right away this time, staring at me like she was contemplating on whether or not to answer, why she wouldn’t, I couldn’t say until she finally said “I’m . . . . from far away.”

‘ _Well that was helpful_ ,’ I thought with every bit of sarcasm I had.

“You wouldn’t have heard of where I’m from anyway.”

“You can try me,” I said almost impatiently.

Like all Dalish clans, my clan was nomadic, though we usually stick to the Free Marches and occasionally parts of southern Thedas, we traveled to many places. But still this was getting us nowhere and things are complicated enough as it is without her being stubborn. But before I could even voice my grievance Cassandra yelled at us to keep up since I’ve only just noticed that we fell far behind the woman. I almost forgot about the Breach.

“Come on Da’len, she and the Breach is waiting for us.”

I trudged up the path towards Cassandra leaving the girl behind when I heard her sigh exasperatedly and said, “Lin.” I glanced back at her when she repeated, “call me Lin.”

Finally we’re getting somewhere unexpected as it was, though I’m guessing to make me stop calling her ‘Da’len,’ and that’s a start for now. That’s assuming ‘Lin’ is her actual name of course.

“Mahanon Lavellan, First of Keeper of Clan Lavellan,” I offered with a small bow.

Lin blinked at my sudden courtesy and then tilted her head in confusion,“. . . . . First of Keeper?”

I sighed. It looks like we’re going to have a long talk after this, assuming either of us survives or if she even wants to talk. But we were practically strangers who know nothing about each other and yet I felt since we’re both in the same mess we can at least try help each other get out to of said mess if things go from already bad to worse. Assuming she agrees and really had nothing to do with the explosion of the Conclave. After all I couldn’t bring myself to leave her in the dungeons with the humans; what does that say about me? Several of my clan mates always did say that my heart is sometimes too big for my own good, even for a First. Let’s **really** hope I won’t come to regret it later.

 

 


	2. The Check List

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Get to the Breach, kill any demons along the way, close the rifts along the way, prevent the demons from spilling out the Breach and stop the Breach from swallowing the world. Should be easy to handle right? Right?
> 
> On a side note, stop me if you heard this one; a human and two elves walk into a battle surrounded by demons and a rift . . . . . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually have the entire Wrath of Heaven part written down already except my mom only proofread the first two so the others will be posted later.

Neither of us said anything else as we followed Cassandra further up the mountain path. Was it my imagination or is the Breach looking more ominous by the minute.

Some humans ran off in the opposite direction, not that I could entirely blame them.

One of them shouted, “Maker! It’s the end of the world!”

It certainly feels like it. We went a little further up when the Breach expanded again, pain shot through my arm, I lost my balance and fell to the ground. After a moment the pain thankfully subsided, Cassandra and Lin helped me to my feet.

“The pulses are coming faster now,” she said to me, looking almost sympathetic instead of her usual angry look, “the larger the Breach grows, the more rifts appear, the more demons we face.”

One thing was bothering me, “how **did** we survive the blast?”

“They say you . . . . stepped out of a rift carrying your companion, then fell unconscious. They say another woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was. Everything farther in the valley was laid waste, including the Temple of Sacred Ashes. I suppose you’ll see soon enough.”

We were just about to cross another bridge when a bolt of green light fell from the Breach and crashed into the bridge, destroying it. We fell to the frozen river below, though a bit banged and bruised, Cassandra, Lin and I survived, the other soldiers who were on the bridge were not so lucky, most were killed from the blast or where crushed from the stones. Just while we were recovering from the fall, another but smaller bolt fell onto the frozen river. From the spot where it fell, dark energy flowed from the ice cracked and glowed green and green crystals sprouted from the ice, from it emerged a creature in monstrous form, a creature I know all too well, a demon from the Fade. A Shade!

“What is that?!” Lin shouted. Has she never seen a demon before?

“Stay behind me!” Cassandra ordered us.

With a cry Cassandra ran towards the demon with her sword and shield raised. But the moment she left us, from the ice in front of us another mass of dark green energy surged from the ice, signaling that another demon is coming. I looked around to find something, anything that I could use to fight until I spotted a discarded staff. Just as the demon, another Shade, emerged from the ice I ran and grabbed the staff, Lin (who seemed to have gotten over the shock of seeing a demon) standing next to me wielding a sword and shield of her own that she must have found among the rubble to arm herself. I sent a few blasts of ice spells at the demon while Lin flanked its side, slicing and impaling the demon’s flesh with surprising skill and precision. Fortunately the demon focused its attacks on Lin while I pelted it with spells and she guarded herself from its claws. Until at last the demon fell as Lin struck the final blow to its chest and it disintegrated into nothingness.

“It’s over” I said.

But to Cassandra it somehow wasn’t when she approached us with her sword pointing at us.

“Drop your weapons. **Now** ,” she ordered.

I glanced at Lin, who didn’t seem like she was in the mood to humor Cassandra’s ‘request,’ but seeing we didn’t exactly have time to argue over this, I decided that I need to take the initiative, if only to calm Cassandra down and not attack us.

“. . . . Alright, alright, have it your way,” I offered, despite that there is a high chance this won’t be our only encounter with demons and I would most definitely need a weapon then.

Cassandra looked at us cautiously for a while before she sighed and sheathed her sword.

“Wait. You don’t need a staff, but you should have one and you” addressing Lin “also need a weapon, since I cannot protect either of you when we are dealing with demons.”

She turned away from us before adding “and I should remember you did not attempt to run. Neither of you did and you both agreed to come willing.”

“What was that . . . . thing?” Lin asked.

“A demon, you’ve never seen a demon before?” I asked.

Lin didn’t get a chance to respond when Cassandra passed us a few red bottles, “take these potions, Maker knows what we will face.”

It took me a second to notice that there were no more soldiers about; it was just us, “where are all your soldiers?” I asked.

“At the forward camp or fighting. We are on our own for now.”

It took us a minute to let that statement sink in; and I didn’t like it at all.

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

 

After picking up any equipment and items that could help us that were scattered after the bridge collapsed, the three of us continued our way across the frozen river and the river banks. Lin gave her new sword a couple of test swings and spins before declaring it adequate enough for use, much to Cassandra’s surprise that the young elf girl, or possibly an elf in general, was competent enough to use a blade and shield. Even I was surprised at her obvious skill with a sword despite her age and size; so much for the ‘helpless girl’ appearance.

When Cassandra asked Lin where she learned her skills, Lin just shrugged and said that she learned from her father since she was little. But despite Lin’s contentment with her sword and shield, she complained that she rather have her old equipment back. When Lin inquired to Cassandra the location of her belongings, the woman’s features became stern once more and said that they was back in Haven, I’m guessing the village we were at before and said no more despite Lin’s protests and urging. After about a minute of badgering and a curt promise of returning them from Cassandra, Lin finally quieted down but not before muttering something that sounded like ‘nobody better be messing with them.’

But I did hear her say, most likely to herself, “papa’s going to lose it if he found out I lost that sword.”

I wasn’t sure whether or not she was being serious or that I should be sympathetic about that. This girl is a mystery and ever since I was a child I was always curious to the core, I do like a good mystery; though several of my clan’s people, especially my Keeper, did say I can be too curious for my own good sometimes as well. Big hearted and inquisitive, with a penchant of sticking my nose in where it don’t belong; not sure if that is a good combination at the moment. But still one thing I can’t figure out about her (among a long list of other things) is that is she a Dalish Elf or a City Elf. While she could be either there are a few problems that would contradict both.

Lin being a City Elf from an Alienage was unlikely since I heard that in many human cities, by some human law, City Elves were not allowed to carry or own weapons at any given time. Most likely to discourage any City Elf from starting an uprising as well as having very little means of protection for themselves or anyone living in the alienages since the laws and guards in most human cities often don’t extend to the alienages and tend (or even encourage any passerby) to ignore any plight of elves. City Elves are considered second class by the humans and prime targets for crimes and transgressions by low – lives, criminals and (especially) nobles with dubious morals alike for centuries.

Thus would have made it improbable that as a City Elf, she would own a sword or shield let alone have the time to learn how to use them. But it was obvious she has skills with a blade and shield, not to mention she didn’t exactly look the type that would willingly lie down and let anyone walk all over her, be it criminal or noble.

It could be that she at least lived outside any cities. In fact she doesn’t act like any City Elf I’ve met. Despite their proud, spirited nature, whenever my clan camped near a human settlement, many City Elves I have met over the years were often downtrodden and oppressed by the humans and tend to keep their heads down to avoid notice. Many City Elves normally seemed compliant to humans and when speaking or spoken to by humans or anyone not an elf, I noticed, they normally lower their eyes and looked subdued. But not Lin, the way she carries herself when she walks was almost the complete opposite. When she talked to Cassandra, she looked at her straight in the woman’s eye, never looking down or being passive, she stood tall and strong with her head held up high with pride and confidence, almost like . . . . a Dalish.

Speaking of, she could be a Dalish Elf warrior in training from another Dalish clan and her lack of the facial Vallaslin tattoos could be because she has yet to come of age. As a member of another clan she could have been sent to spy on the Conclave just as I was. However that doesn’t make sense either since young members of most clans who have not yet earned their Vallaslin tattoos were not considered fully grown adults and are almost never permitted to leave the safety of their clans for any reason. On top of it all, if she was Dalish, she should have known words like ‘Da’len,’ ‘shemlens’ or the ‘First of the Keeper,’ since they were common terms that even the youngest clan members know what they mean. But her unfamiliarity of the words can only suggest that she is not Dalish, then again she didn’t seem to even know what a Dalish or City Elf is. Not to mention the way she was dressed, I’ve never seen anyone dressed so . . . . odd.

‘ _There is the third possibility that she could be neither . . . . if that is such a thing_ ,’ I thought. And she did say she was from ‘far away.’

I was so caught up in my musings that I didn’t even notice the demons roaming over the frozen river before Cassandra shouted.

“There! Watch out! If we flank them, we may gain the advantage.”

‘ _Right, back to the matter at hand_ ,’ I thought as Cassandra and Lin rushed towards the demons weapons raised while I stayed back giving them magical support.

Once they were dealt with the demons we pressed on. Then, surprise, surprise, more demons and magic throwing ghostly wraiths fell from the Breach, Cassandra charged forward on her own while Lin stayed by me, why, I couldn’t tell, possibly to protect me? Again **why** is she protecting me, I don’t know, not that I’m about to complain for the moment. It wasn’t long until we established a working routine during the battles. Lin would garner the demons’ attention as much as she can and while they’re focusing their attacks on her I would assault them with magic.

After going through three separate assaults from the demons we stopped by a hill for a few minutes to catch our breath, Cassandra stood a ways away from us. I stretched my limbs to let out the few remaining kinks when I glanced at Lin who stood a few feet from me with a put out look, but what caught my attention was that worried glance towards the Breach. I realized that I had not thought about how all of this affected her or how she feels about everything, waking up in a dungeon in chains, the accusations of mass murder, the Breach itself. Despite she could hold her own in a fight as we learned, the fact still remains that she is still a young girl, possibly far from home and family who probably miss her. She sat on a log, facing and staring at the Breach with an intense and . . . . . . frightened look in her eyes.

I approached her, “I . . . . . must apologize for my behavior earlier.”

“Huh?”

“I was so caught up about myself being stuck in this mess that I didn’t give much thought about how all this might have affected you. Not only are you accused of mass murder but have to fight for or life against these demons with us. I expect this is all . . . . . . difficult to take in.”

She stared at me with searching eyes possibly trying to figure out if I have some kind of ulterior motive for my concern . . . . . or something. Or I’m just over thinking things . . . . . again.

“Well it’s not every day you find yourself in a dank, dark dungeon and yes, accused for blowing up a load of people to bits,” Lin said when she glanced up at the Breach again, “or accused to being the cause to bring the end of the world. That’s definitely a new one. And she said something about killing a ‘Divine Justinia.’ Who is Divine Justinia? A god? How do you kill a god?”

I blinked at her question before gathering myself to answer, “she’s not a god, she human, the leader of the Chantry, the human’s religion.”

“And what’s the Chantry again?”

I glanced towards Cassandra who didn’t seem to hear or even notice our conversation. I sighed. Not my best topic. I’m Dalish, what you’d expect?

“It’s a long topic.”

“Later?” Lin asked.

“If we all live at the end of the day, though I might not be the best person to ask, my people have their own gods.”

“Oh, mine too,” she said softly.

She lowered her head and spoke in the same strange language she did before in the dungeon, before looking back up to the Breach with . . . . . worry. Which shouldn’t be surprising, it threatens to destroy the world and everyone on it. For some reason unknown I wanted to distract her thoughts of the Breach so I asked.

“You said you are far from home, I take it it’s very far?” given the fact that she apparently has no knowledge of the elves here in Thedas, Dalish or City.

“Something like that . . . . . . .”

“Do you travel alone?”

To my surprise she shook her head, “I have friends with, were with me. I don’t know where they are, if they’re ok or what if they were –” she looked up to the Breach.

“You’re worried, that they might have been caught in the explosion,” I surmised, she nodded.

I was not sure what to say or think about that; she just said that she wasn’t alone, that there were other people with her. Could they, could she have truly been responsible for the explosion? Or were they just in the wrong place at the wrong time, victims of circumstance as I was? I could mention it to Cassandra, but considering the woman’s short temper, Cassandra would probably immediately jump to her previous conclusion that Lin was guilty of mass murder and who knows what she would do to the girl. This mess just got bigger, just my luck. Not to mention if she really had no part in the explosion and if her companions **were** caught in it . . . . . . .

“I’m from Hyrule,” she muttered, that was unexpected.

I blinked at the sudden change in topic and such an odd sounding name, “’Hi-rule? Is that a country?” She nodded. “And . . . . . . it’s not a country in Thedas is it?”

“Nope.”

Alright, she got me. I never heard of such a place and honestly what sort of country is called ‘Hi – rule?’ But if perhaps in her country the Chantry and terms like Dalish or City Elves don’t exist . . . . . and if she’s telling the truth and it is indeed ‘far away,’ that could explain her lack of familiarity of subjects we take for granted as common knowledge. But then if the terms Dalish and City are not used then what does she call herself? Unless they’re called something else? Things must be different in her country, but I wonder how different?

She definitely noticed my bemusement as she gave me a small hollow laugh, “see I told you wouldn’t know it.”

I didn’t even give the slightly indignant remark that was at the tip of my tongue, Cassandra declared that we rested enough and it was time to get going. Across the river we came towards a set of stairs leading to the ledge up, it wasn’t long until the sounds of battle was heard up ahead.

“We’re getting close to the rift,” Cassandra shouted, “you can hear the fighting.”

“Who’s fighting?” Lin shouted back.

“You’ll see soon. We must help them.”

Passing a destroyed bridge we came to a clearing of a ruined building where among the rubble a few soldiers, a bald elf mage and a dwarf wielding the most complicated looking crossbow I’ve ever seen, fighting a host of demons near a small green . . . . . rift? Floating in the air. Without a word we jumped into the fray, swords and magic in hand, with our help the group made quick work of the demons. When the last demon fell, the bald elf grabbed my hand with the Mark and pulled me towards the rift.

“Quickly, before more come through!”

He raised my hand, palm facing it, the Mark glowed brighter than before. From the Mark a blast of energy drew forth and flowed into the rift. For a moment green energy and light poured from the rift and the Mark and then the rift disappeared with the light from the Mark dimming. I backed away, my hand closed in a fist, covering the mark as I looked at the man.

“What did you do?”

“ **I** did nothing. The credit is yours.”

I looked at my hand obviously confused, “I closed that thing? How?”

“Whatever magic opened the Breach,” the elf explained, “in the sky also placed that mark on your hand. I theorized the mark might be able to close the rifts that have opened in the Breach’s wake – and it seems I was correct.”

“Meaning it could also close the Breach itself,” Cassandra surmised.

“Possibly. It seems you hold the key to our salvation,” the elf said.

The dwarf who had fought with us earlier made himself known.“Good to know! Here I thought we’d be ass – deep in demons forever.”

Lin gaped at him, like she never saw a dwarf before; the dwarf himself seemed to have noticed her staring at him and introduced himself.

“Varric Tethras; rogue, storyteller and occasionally unwelcome tagalong” he said while giving Cassandra a wink at the end. From the look on her face she did not find it appreciative.

It took Lin a second to find her voice when she asked, “and you’re a . . . . .”

“Never seen a dwarf before kid?” he asked half jokingly; when she shook her head, he did not expect that. So there are no dwarves in her ‘Hyrule’ then?

“Lucky you,” Cassandra groaned.

“Well I don’t know what kind of place you’re from that doesn’t have dwarves, but lucky for you kid, I’m going to show what you’re missing,” the dwarf vowed.

I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not or whether if it was a good or a terrible idea.

Lin asked, “so are you with the Chantry thing or . . . ?” pointing at Cassandra.

The bald elf laughed, “was that a serious question?”

I’m beginning to see a pattern here, “I think it was,” I muttered to no one in particular.

“Technically I’m a prisoner, just like you two,” the dwarf said.

“I brought you here to tell your story to the Divine,” said Cassandra, “Clearly that is no longer necessary.”

“Yet, here I am. Lucky for you, considering current events,” said the dwarf.

“It’s good to meet you Varric,” I said, trying to ease a bit of tension that was growing between them.

“You may reconsider that stance in time,” the elf mage said with some amusement.

“Aww, I’m sure we’ll become great friends . . . . eventually,” Varric said strangely optimistically.

“That . . . . . is an interesting crossbow Mr. Tethras,” Lin said.

“Ah, isn’t she? Bianca and I have been through a lot together,” he said almost dreamily. Lin raised an eyebrow.

“You named it Bianca?” I asked.

 “Of course. And she’ll be great company in the valley,” he said cheerfully.

Cassandra on the other hand didn’t sound pleased with the gesture, “absolutely not. Your help is appreciated Varric but . . . .”

“Have you been in the valley lately Seeker? Your soldiers aren’t in control anymore. You need me.”

A disgruntled noise fell from Cassandra’s lips telling us that the dwarf may be right. Things must be pretty grim at this point.

“And . . . . you are mister? . . . . . . . You look familiar, why do you look familiar?” Lin pointed out towards the bald elf who had been quiet for a while.

The elf gave her a half smile, “my name is Solas, if there are to be introductions. I am pleased to see you both still live,” he said.

“He means, ‘I kept that mark from killing you while you slept,’” Varric said to me helpfully.

Ah, “then I owe you my thanks,” I said.

“Thank me if we manage to close the Breach without killing you in the process,” he said.

“You seem to know a lot about that . . . . . . thing,” Lin said, pointing to my glowing hand.

“Like your companion, Solas is an apostate mage,” said Cassandra.

“Ooook . . . . .” was all Lin said almost nonchalant.

Come to think of it other than the elf Solas, Lin never questioned or pointed out that **I** can use magic the entire time since we left the village. In fact unlike most people who tend to either be wary or fearful of magic and those who use it, she didn’t seemed disturbed or uncomfortable in being in such close proximity with a mage. So does that mean magic exist in her country too? Perhaps magic and mages are more accepted there?

“Technically, all mages are now apostates, Cassandra. My travels have allowed me to learn much of the Fade, far beyond the experience of any Circle mage. I came to offer whatever help I can give with the Breach. If it is not closed, we are all doomed regardless of origin,” Solas said.

“And what will you do when this is all over?” I asked.

“One hopes that those in power will remember who helped and who didn’t,” he replied.

Fair enough.

Solas turned towards Cassandra “Cassandra, you should know; the magic involved here is unlike any I have seen. Though one of your prisoners is indeed a mage, I find it difficult to imagine **any** mage having such power.”

“Understood. We must get to the forward camp. And quickly,” Cassandra said before leaving with Solas following.

“Well Bianca’s excited!” Varric said before leaving with the others leaving Lin and myself.

We looked at each other for a brief moment before she shrugged and left to follow with me in toll.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone asks, no Lin is not the 'Twilight Princess' Princess Zelda, but she is from that timeline/era thing many years later. But you can probably guess her . . . . . relations already. Sssshhh :P


	3. Hello Colin.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally reached the Forward Camp and meet someone familiar to Lin. And he’s not an elf.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crazy long chapter my mom said OMG. I had to redo the middle with Lin talking with the group several times until I was just content enough to keep it.

 

“This way, down the bank,” I heard Cassandra call out, “the road ahead is blocked.”

“We must move quickly” I heard Solas say.

After passing through the rubble we headed to the side leading down a steep narrow path towards a ravine and a frozen riverbed with several house structures across, a few now in flames. Bolts of green energy continue to fall from the Breach towards the ground around us, demons sprouted from several of them, forcing us to fight.

After one such battle Solas directed a question to me, “you are Dalish?”

“And a mage,” Varric added.

“The Dalish have mages,” I said, even that should be common knowledge even for a dwarf.

“Oh, I knew one once. Pretty girl, had a thing for mirrors,” Varric put his two coppers in with a hint of fondness.

Solas continued his questioning as if Varric hadn’t interrupted, “you’re clearly away from the rest of your clan. Did they send you here?”

“We are of the same people Solas, you, me and Lin,” I gestured to Lin.

 “The Dalish I met felt . . . differently on the subject,” said Solas.

“Why?” Lin asked of course considering her lack of knowledge of my people.

Instead of answering Lin, I asked Solas, “and what do you know of the Dalish?”

Solas took a moment as if considering who to answer, when he answered me, “I have wandered many roads in my time and have crossed paths with your people on more than one occasion.”

“What do you mean you have crossed paths?” I asked.

“I mean I had offered to share knowledge; only to be attacked for no greater reason then their superstition,” he said with an obvious frown.

“That wasn’t nice,” Lin piped up.

“No, it is not da’len,” Solas said looking in a cross between quizzical and amused she said that.

“Can’t you elves just play nice for once?” said Varric.

After a while of silence as we continued our way to the forward camp Varric asked, “so, what’s the story between you two? Other than the possible, ‘blowing up the Conclave.’”

“Huh?” I said.

“You and the little lady, what’s the story, before the Conclave? I was under the impression you were Dalish Elves but one of you don’t have those facial tattoos your folks were so set upon; as a patronage to your elven gods if I recall correctly,” said Varric.

“That is true, it seems unlikely the young lady is from a Dalish clan as Varric mentioned, she lacks a Vallaslin which marks a Dalish child’s coming of age and any Dalish clan do not allow their children to leave their respective clans unattended,” Solas observed.

“She still could have been accompanying him to the Conclave,” said Cassandra.

“That would still be unlikely, if their Keeper was planning to send a group then they would have sent other adults, not children,” Solas pointed out, “especially with a task such as sending them to the Conclave, for whatever reason.”

“Which I can only guess your little female friend here is a City Elf. So which alienage are you from? No wait, let me guess the reason you left; you got tired of the alienage life so you packed up to travel the world and met him and his clan along the way? Or at least get out of those slums your fellow elves had to call home. I can understand that, those places can be complete sh!tholes,” said the dwarf.

Goodness he’s talkative. She looked at me questioningly.

“But still it’s not every day you find a dashing Dalish mage and a pretty City Elf warrior girl on such friendly terms. You two on the run from something or maybe because you pissed off the wrong noble? Oh maybe star cross lovers eloping? The Dalish don’t like it if one of their members get cozy with any elves outside the Dalish if I remember right. City Elves are one thing but humans; oh boy,” Varric prattled on quite enthusiastically.

If it wasn’t for the cold I would feel heat rising to my face up to my ears at that suggestion. Lin almost tripped over a stone, skipping a ways before regaining her balance; whether or not it was from Varric’s implication I cannot tell, though she did have interesting coloring on her cheeks. Solas didn’t say anything but he must have seen our reaction if that chuckle is any indication.

“Really Varric?” said Cassandra, exasperation in her voice.

“What? I’m a writer, if I don’t get any good gossip , then I have to use my imagination to make up these kinds of things, even if it’s crazy weird sh!t,” the dwarf said nonchalantly. A writer, explains a lot then.

Lin and I looked at each other for a long silent moment. She shrugged and I sighed, the truth was bound to get out eventually.

“Actually we’ve never met before we awoke in the dungeons,” I said.

The three of them looked at us with varying degrees of shock.

“Seriously?” Varric asked.

“Yep, never seen him before in my life,” Lin declared.

“If that is even true then why did you demand that she come with us to the Breach when you two never met?” Cassandra asked both confused and furious.

“Your guards didn’t exactly look like they were focusing on . . . . . guarding one of your prisoners,” I said, still remembering the looks they gave her.

Lin glanced at me curiously like she didn’t know what I was talking about, perhaps she didn’t notice their stares after all?

“What are you implying?” Cassandra said challengingly.

“You were concerned of what they might do to her if she was left alone,” Varric guessed, unlike Cassandra who looked appalled at such claim, he looked sympathetic and understanding.

“I understand your concern, given the situation I too would fear for her safety, even if she was a stranger to me, especially for a young elven girl surrounded by human men who may have already decided her guilt,” Solas said, also sympathizing.

“The guards would never –”

“Too late now, she’s here with us and I for one appreciate her help dealing with all these demons,” Varric said.

Cassandra glared at me and this time I did not back down before she grunted and turned leading the rest of us to continue our journey. Lin looked at me searchingly again, I looked at her for a moment before nodding soberly and followed the group, with her behind me.

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

 

“You know, with all these demons why didn’t you call for help?” Varric asked a relatively sensible question. To which I have thought of it myself a few times.

“We have,” Cassandra answered.

“So . . . . . no one came to help?” Lin asked genuinely surprised.

“Would you wish to come to the site of so much death Da’len?” Solas asked her gently. She did not answer or rather she looked as if she didn’t know how to answer.

“Good point, still if they knew there was a chance to close the Breach –” Varric pointed out.

“They don’t know that; and neither do we. Yet,” Cassandra said.

“And none of this explains how the mark was acquired however,” Solas mentioned after we just finished yet another battle.

 “He claims not to remember,” Cassandra said with a bit of . . . . heat in her voice. Not surprising since we’re going there apparently.

“And you do not believe that,” Solas surmised.

“It is too convenient,” she said.

“Sometimes the mind buries what it cannot endure,” Solas said.

“And sometimes the guilty lie,” she said, “and questions yet remain.”

“Just not about their guilt apparently,” Varric stated.

“We don’t know why they were at the Conclave, or who they worked for,” she said

“So . . . why not ask?” Varric asked before asking straight away “so, are you innocent?”

“Are you asking me or him?” Lin asked.

“Either, I’m not picky.”

When Lin didn’t say anything else I decided to answer, “I don’t remember what happened,” I said and that is the truth no matter what the Seeker suspects otherwise.

“And you kid?” he asked Lin.

“I have no idea what’s going on,” she said.

Varric actually laughed, “that’ll get you every time. Should have spun a story.”

“That’s what **you** would have done” Cassandra said.

“It’s more believable. And less prone to result in premature execution,” he says.

Interesting point. If you have the talent to spin a story on the fly.

Eventually my curiosity got the better of me when I pointed out to Varric “so you and Cassandra know each other?”

“You could say that. She stabbed my books,” Varric said.

“She what?” Lin asked genuinely confused, as am I.

Cassandra denied it, “I did no such thing.”

“She questioned me and then dragged me here to give evidence at the conclave,” he said.

“Which means you are now free to go,” Cassandra said.

“You ever get the feeling you’re not wanted?

“When I’m asking too many unwanted questions,” I heard Lin whispered with a smirk on her face. Varric must have heard her too when he chuckled.

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

 

A fight or two later, with my hand crackling green energy in between occasionally, Lin asked Varric, “why do you call her Seeker? What **is** a Seeker?”

“Because that’s what Cassandra is,” Varric answered.

“So what, she seeks, looks for . . . . stuff?”

Though Cassandra made a soft grunting sound, Varric laughed, “sort of, she’s a Seeker of Truth, a sort of Templar. Didn’t she tell you? I’ll bet they didn’t even introduce themselves properly or mention who all these soldiers are.”

“The prisoners are accused of a terrible crime,” Cassandra said, of course.

“But you still need their help,” he pointed out, “unless you’re talking them to the valley for a brisk walk and some air.”

“So who are they then?” I asked this time.

“Cassandra and Leliana were the right hand and the left hand of the Divine, respectively. They were the Divine’s unofficial agents, doing things like gathering these soldiers.”

“But for what purpose?” I asked.

This time Solas answered “the Templar Order was once the Chantry’s army, but it abandoned them to hunt mages. A replacement was needed.”

I glanced at Lin who seemed to be trying her best to keep up but . . . . . if anyone noticed her blank stares, no one mentioned it.

“It is more than that,” Cassandra declared.

“So she claims” Varric added “clearly the Divine had something in mind for them.”

“Let’s move on,” she said briskly, ending that conversation.

Time for a change of topic as Varric seemed to have figured when he asked out of the blue “so Solas is it?”

“You’ve yet to come up with a nickname for me I see,” said Solas.

“You give people nicknames?” Lin asked.

“Only those I work and relatively get along with, at least nicknames I find agreeable anyhow. I was thinking Apostate for Solas here, but that might make our seeker twitch.”

“It is also meaningless. With the Circle of Magi gone, all mages are now apostates.”

“What’s a Circle of Magi?” Lin whispered to me.

I wasn’t sure whether or not I should be grateful she asked (and whispered to) me of yet another topic that was (very) common (and one of the most sensitive and debatable) knowledge in Thedas even for a Dalish like me. Especially now considering recent events. This was not the time or place for **that** conversation and I was not up for it.

“Later,” I whispered back.

“Yet none of them showed up to help,” Varric pointed out to Solas.

“Perhaps they do not see the bigger picture, despite it looming in the sky.”

“Or maybe they’re scared of the folks in armor who carry big swords,” Lin stated, glancing at Cassandra.

“Good point, the folks in armor who carry big swords are prone to stabbing before talking, let alone accepting help from mages,” Varric said with a hint of amusement, indicating he noticed Lin gesturing at the Seeker.

“Can I have one?” Lin asked.

“A big stabbing sword?” Varric asked, “I think you already have one kid.”

“No! A nickname!” she yelled indignantly.

The dwarf laughed, “I’m just messing with you kid and maybe I will, assuming you’re innocent and we all get out of this alive.”

“She is a suspect of a crime if you have forgotten dwarf,” Cassandra reminded him.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t make one up still, if she’s innocent then I may have one for her, if not then . . . . . . Tell you what kid, I’ll think of something for you regardless alright kid?

“Ok!” she said.

Varric laughed again, I smiled and Solas chuckled a little, Cassandra sighed and shook her head but it wasn’t out of anger or annoyance, surprisingly. Her enthusiasm was oddly comforting considering the whole end of the world situation I suppose. Though I wonder if it was all an act, after all I did see that frightened worry on her face when she wondered whether her friends were alive . . . . . or dead. Either way, we pressed on.

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

 

“So kid,” Varric turned to Lin, “you’re not a mage and presumably not a Templar.”

“Certainly not” Cassandra remarked.

“What’s a young, pretty girl like you doing at the Conclave?” Varric asked.

“She . . . . . . . . claims she does not know of the Conclave, she claims to be inside the temple but spoke as if she didn’t know it was in attendance,” Cassandra said.

“It’s as sounds as if she too has lost some of her memory, perhaps as a result from the explosion,” Solas suggested.

“Or perhaps it is just more lies,” Cassandra insisted, she glared at me then turned her glare to Lin, “I still do not believe that you just happen to waltz inside the Temple of Sacred Ashes and claim that you knew nothing of the Conclave.”

“I still don’t know what you are going on about this ‘conclave’ thing, was it important?” Lin asked.

There is definitely a pattern going on here. If I wasn’t already aware that she is from an unknown country and of how unfamiliar she was with things that were even the most basic common knowledge for anyone, elf, human or dwarf, I would probably have the same look of absolute shock on my face as Cassandra. Solas merely looked surprised with Lin’s obvious lack of knowledge of the world around her. They looked at her, then turned to me who I didn’t even bother to hide my tired sigh before turning back to Lin.

The dwarf could only say “. . . . . . Seriously?”

Solas was the first to get over it, he spoke to her gently, “da’len, the Conclave was a meeting led by Divine Justinia, to gather the leaders of the Mages and Templars to negotiate a peace between them.”

“A peace for what?” Lin asked.

“To end the war.”

“What war?”

“The Mage Templar war?” said Varric, “when the mages decided to leave the Circle of Magi and the Templars deserted the Chantry to hunt them down and have been at war for over a year. That war.”

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

 “Why? Why are they fighting? Why are these ‘templars’ hunting mages? What for? And what is the Chantry and Circle of Magi thing anyway? And why do you keep calling me City Elf, what is a City Elf? What’s an Alienage?”

Oh Creators, where we go. They didn’t seem to know what to make of her and her obliviousness to the world and the current events that are known to every corner of Thedas.

“Ok kid, either you’ve been trying very hard to not pay attention of the going on of the world around you or you’ve been living underground your whole life,” Varric said joking mildly, “or maybe in the most remote piece of wilderness you can find.”

“Or . . . . .” I said, they all looked at me, “she’s not from around here.”

“What do you mean?” Solas asked.

“She told me she came from a country that isn’t in Thedas,” I said.

 “And what country does she claim to be from?” Cassandra asked.

“They won’t know it either,” she said, “so go ahead.”

“Her country is called Hyrule,” I said.

Blank looks all around.

“Hyrule?” asked Varric, looking thoughtful.

“I’ve never heard of such a name,” said Cassandra predictably.

Solas agreed, “yes, I’ve never heard of it myself.”

“How do we know it even exists?” said Cassandra.

“And how do we know it doesn’t?” I pointed out.

“He is . . . . . right, beyond our borders as well as beyond the sea there are vast uncharted lands unknown to us, so who is to say this ‘Hyrule’ may or may not exist?” said Solas.

“And that would explain her uh . . . . . lack of awareness of what’s going on before the Conclave exploded and her weird accent. And her blank looks every time we explain something,” said Varric.

“Yes, there is that,” Solas admitted, Solas looked at her like she an unusual experiment, “this is a most unexpected development and most fascinating.”

“She could be lying or mad to claim she comes from a country that we never heard of, she has to be,” Cassandra argued.

Solas shook his head, “I do not believe she is lying.”

“And why do you think that?” Cassandra demanded.

“She asked what you, a Seeker of Truth was,” Solas said.

“Many people do not truly know what we the Seekers of Truth are and have always mistaken us as templars for years,” Cassandra argued, “it would not be so strange if she didn’t know as well.”

“Yet when we explained, she bore no recognition to anything we’ve said, even when Varric mentioned you were similar to a templar and you were the Right Hand of the Divine,” Solas explained, “if she lying about not knowing anything of the Chantry would she have said so in front of you, a Seeker of Truth and who served Divine Justinia personally, the very same Divine whom she is accused of killing?”

“She thought ‘Divine Justinia’ was an actual deity,” I put in my input; Cassandra sputtered.

“Seriously?” asked Varric.

“And when Cassandra and what was her name? Leliana? Interrogated her, she called the Temple of Sacred Ashes a ‘big building filled with candles and statues of women holding bowls of fire,’”

I would have said the look on Cassandra’s face was almost comical if we weren’t in a rush and that she looked like she could kill with a single swing if I even mentioned it. Varric actually laughed this time.

“Was that true Cassandra?” Solas asked.

Cassandra said nothing but gritted her teeth, Solas and Varric seemed to take that as a yes.

Solas turned to Lin and asked her gently, “everything we’ve spoken of, they truly aren’t familiar to you da’len? They don’t exist in your country I suspect?”

“No, they don’t . . . . . But I’m guessing by Magi, you mean mages. The Circle of Magi  . . . . . I’ve no idea what that supposed to mean. As for this ‘Chantry,’ it’s some kind of religion? At least that’s what Lavellan has told me.”

“Lavellan?” Cassandra asked crossly, “who is this Lavellan? An accomplice of yours?”

Lin gave her a look that all but screams ‘are you kidding me?’ before pointing at me.

“Oh,” was all she said, looking quite abashed; which was surprising.

“Should have asked for his name Seeker,” said Varric trying not to laugh.

“I believe knowing the name of your prisoner should have been part of the process of arresting him is it not?” Solas asked with a hint of smugness, “at least someone was civil enough to ask him.”

“Actually he told me first,” Lin corrected.

“Come to think of it, don’t think we’ve gotten your name kid, so what’s your name?” Varric pointed out.

Took them this long to ask?

“Call me Lin,” she said.

“Lin what?” Varric asked.

“Just . . . . Lin,” she said like that was the end of it.

 “Uh – huh,” was all Varric said.

“Anyway I asked Lavellan about the Chantry and the Circle of Magi and . . . . . . other things but . . . . . . .”

“I’ve already told her now was not the time and place to talk about them,” I said firmly.

“I’m guessing they are long topics that take a while to explain?” Lin asked.

“You have no idea,” said Varric.

 “Yes, Lavellan is correct, they are long and very complex subjects and given our current settings, it would be ill advice to discuss them here,” Solas suggested.

Cassandra looked beside herself, “why are we entertaining this? You can trust nothing she says. Neither of them. And this ‘Hyrule,’ if such a place exist we would have some record of it,” Cassandra said, obviously not in the mood to take this further. Though I bet she must be fuming inside.

“That is assuming it was part of Thedas, as both of them made it clear it wasn’t Seeker. And she really does look like she doesn’t know what is going on; other then that the world is ending and we’re drowning in demons,” said Varric.

“That last bit is obvious anyway,” Lin pointed out.

“Enough! First we deal with the Breach, then we learn the truth, the whole truth,” said Cassandra and that was that.

 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

 

For while after that we went on in tense silence, battling demons along the way gave Cassandra the opportunity to hit something considering everything that came to light. Of course how all this will end if we make it out alive is . . . . . uncertain that’s for sure. We passed destroyed and ruined buildings.

While climbing more stairs Varric asked “so let’s say you fix this hole in the sky Seeker, what then?”

“A new Divine, hopefully a new attempt for peace,” she said.

“You think the mages and templars will come again after this? Mighty optimistic. And that’s assuming the new Divine would even try. I wouldn’t,” said Varric.

“Of course you wouldn’t.”

“See? This is why I stuck around, all the love and respect.”

We passed more ruins and rubble and fire, bodies of the dead littered the path. It was difficult to look at such destruction, even Lin, full of energy as she was, looked sad when she glanced upon any dead body she passed.

“I hope Leliana made it through all this,” said Cassandra.

“She’s resourceful Seeker,” Varric assured her surprisingly.

“We will see for ourselves at the forward camp. We are almost there,” said Solas.

 Creators, how long have we been running towards the camp? Before long after climbing a winding set of stone stairs, my hand sparked again and more fighting was heard from above.

“Another rift!” Cassandra shouted.

“We must seal it! Quickly!” Solas shouted.

Up on top the stairs, another rift as Cassandra said was seen in front a large gate with demons pouring out and soldiers who were fighting for their lives.

“They keep coming! Help us!” one of them shouted.

We jumped into the fray, as per usual Cassandra and Lin rushed in with swords in hand while Solas, Varric and myself fought from a distance. It was . . . . . strangely fascinating watching Lin wield her sword and move in her footwork. It was obvious she has been in plenty of fights before all of this. One of the Shades tried to swipe at her but with a mighty blow she pushed it back hard enough for it to fall. And before it could recover, Lin ran full speed towards it, leaped into the air and with a great cry stabbed the Shade, plunging her blade into its body killing it instantly. What strength!

Once most of the demons were taken care of, by some compelling instinct my marked hand glowed and like before green energy flowed from the mark towards the rift, for a moment it did nothing but then the rift exploded, leaving but a . . . space torn between this world and . . . is that the Fade? On the other side? Green crystal like spikes protruded from the ground and from them more demons came out for us to fight. With each demon killed, they turned into a green light that seemed to flow back to the rift, like it was consuming them.

When the last of the demons fell Solas called out. “Hurry use the mark!”

I raised my hand once more, the pulsing from the rift and the mark growing stronger and stronger and at the last moment I clenched my fist and pulled it away, the rift exploded once more, closing it like the first. The threat here is now over.

Cassandra called out, “the rift is gone. Open the gate!”

“Right away Lady Cassandra!” one of the soldiers answered.

“We’re clear for the moment. Well done,” said Solas.

“Whatever that thing on your hand is, it’s useful,” Varric said.

While we waited for the soldiers to open the gates, Lin was standing over one of the dead Shades, staring at it with genuine curiosity before she started poking it with her sword. At this point I was getting a little nervous with her unfamiliarity with . . . . everything. I was especially concerned about her attitude towards demons. When she was still poking the remains like it was a dead animal, I was about to suggest she stop when Varric beat me to it.

“You might want to stop poking the demon corpse kid,” Varric advised, he sounded like he couldn’t decide whether to be amused or concerned (or both) about her antics I think.

“You know, for something that you people make it like it’s the worst, god awful thing in the world, it’s awfully squishy,” she pointed out, while still poking the dead demon before it dissipated like the rest.

Varric looked at me, I just shook my head and passed the opened gate to the camp.

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

 

The camp was built upon a long bridge, weapons and crates of supplies lined the bridge, soldiers either stood by or sat around a campfire warming themselves from the snowy weather. After passing the campfire, Lin stopped to look towards the people sitting around it. Two of them human males, a female dwarf and a tall, burly grey skinned male with impressive horns on his head, a Qunari if I remember the stories correctly. What could a Qunari be doing here? Not surprising if that’s why she stopped to look if she never seen a Qunari before. Not many people did but only heard of them, myself included.

“Colin?” she said, shaking out of my thoughts. Colin, that’s what she said when she awoke in the dungeons. She was calling for him?

One of them, a young man with short blonde hair, roughly in his late twenties or early thirties, dressed in a long travel worn grey cloak, carrying a sword and shield on his back, looked up. His bright blue eyes lit up with recognition while he went from shocked to relief and joy.

“Lin?” he said.

The young man, Colin, has the same accent as Lin, indicating he is from the same country she’s from. Lin wasted no time in running or rather barreling into the man, hugging him; he hugged back. He softly spoke in a strange language, most likely the same language Lin spoke in the dungeon. She knows this human?

“Gods be praised, where have you been? We’ve been looking all over for you for three days!” the man said.

“I was gone for three days?” Lin asked with genuine surprise.

“At least!”

“I take it you two know each other?” Varric stated.

Lin and Colin looked up (or down) to the dwarf who, along with Solas, Cassandra and myself was watching.

“You know her?” Cassandra asked, her hand on the pommel of her sword. Oh no.

The man’s eyes darted between Cassandra and her sword before slightly nudging Lin to the side as if attempting to move her out of possible harm’s way. Considering its Cassandra, that inclination of a possible threat is sound.

“Yes, and you are?” he asked.

“Cassandra Pentaghast, Seeker of Truth. Who are you?”

“Colin. I’ve been looking everywhere for her. What is she doing in your company?”

“She and this man,” she pointed at me, “are being charged with a crime.”

“What?” he exclaimed turning to Lin, “what have you gotten yourself into this time?”

She looked around nervously, “I’m . . . . . . we’re being accused of causing a massive explosion, killing a lot of people, including someone they called a ‘Divine,’ destroying a sacred temple of sorts and bringing the end of the world.”

Whatever he thought she was in trouble was definitely not that if the look on his face was anything to judge by.

“M – murder and the end of the world?” he asked looking frightened, worried and sounding very exasperated, instead of answering she pointed up to the Breach.

“The hole in the sky? These people think you caused that?”

“Apparently so.”

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath while pinching the bridge of his nose, “ **what happened**?” he said very tersely.

“Enough, we don’t have time for this. But since you’ve identified yourself as someone who is an acquaintance with one of the suspects for the Breach, we cannot overlook the possibility that you could have been involved as an accomplice. Guards! Take this man into custody.”

“Excuse me?” he exclaimed as several soldiers surrounded him as ordered when Lin shouted.

“Wait! Wait, wait, wait! I’m going with you to help you close the Breach to prove I have nothing to do with it right? What if he comes too? He’s been helping you fight the monsters otherwise why would he be here? That is why you’re here right?” she asked the man.

“Of course.”

“No, we cannot risk letting this man wander free until we have restored order,” Cassandra said.

“I’d say let’s give the man chance to prove his ‘innocence,’ Maker knows we’re going to need all the help we can get to sort through this mess,” Varric suggested.

“But what if he’s also responsible of –” Cassandra said.

“Master Tethras is correct; with the Breach expanding and the number of demons increasing can we truly afford to turn away any able blade for any reason?” Solas asked.

Cassandra was silent for a moment before sighing heavily and said, “very well, he will come with us to the Breach, but once danger is over, **if** it is over, he will be taken into custody for interrogation. There is still much about you especially that remain unanswered,” she said pointing at Lin.

With that finally out of the way we headed towards the rear end of the camp where we heard a man and the red head woman in the purple hood, Leliana, if I recall, talking.

“We must prepare the soldiers!” said Leliana.

“We will do no such thing,” the man declared.

“The prisoner must get to the Temple of Sacred Ashes. It is our only chance!” she argued.

“You have already caused enough trouble without resorting to this exercise in futility,” the man said.

“Have I caused trouble?” she asked.

“You, Cassandra, the Most Holy – haven’t you all done enough already?” the man said with disdain.

“You are not in command here!”

“Enough! I will not have it!”

We approached the table that stood before a large tent, behind the table stood a man dressed in red and white robes, I remember seeing others dress as such when we visited a human town, a member of the Chantry clergy.

“Ah, here they come,” the Chantry man said.

“You made it. Chancellor Roderick, this is –” Leliana began to say before the man, Roderick interrupted.

“I know who they are. As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry, I hereby order you to take these criminals to Val Royeaux to face execution,” he demanded while pointing to me and Lin.

Naturally Colin did not take that order well when he scowled and was about to unsheathe his sword when Lin got his attention and shook her head. Thank Creators, creating a commotion is the last thing we need right now.

“’Order me?’ You are a glorified cleric. A bureaucrat!” Cassandra spat back, which was odd, since they’re both supposed to be part of the Chantry.

“And you are a thug. But a thug who supposedly serves the Chantry!” he said.

“We serve the Most Holy, Chancellor, as you well know,” said Leliana.

“Justinia is dead! We must elect a replacement, and obey **her** orders on the matter!” said Roderick.

“So none of you are actually in charge here?” I asked. This was getting more desperate than it already is.

“And don’t talk about us like we’re not here!” Lin shouted before anyone could stop her.

“You two **killed** everyone was in charge! And you murderers shouldn’t even **be** here!” Roderick shouted back. “Call a retreat Seeker, our position here is hopeless,” he said to Cassandra.

“We can stop this before it is too late,” Cassandra said with resolve.

Roderick shook his head in disbelief, “how? You won’t survive long enough to reach the temple. Even with all your soldiers.”

“We must get to the temple. It’s the quickest route,” she said.

“But not the safest,” Leliana pointed out, “our forces can charge as a distraction while we go through the mountains,” she said, pointing to the snowy mountains in the distance.

“We lost contact with an entire squad on that path. It is too risky,” Cassandra argued.

“Listen to me, abandon this now before more lives are lost,” the chancellor said.

No sooner did the Chancellor spoke those words, another thunderous roar sounded from the Breach as more green lightning cracked across the sky. And like always the mark on my hand responded, shooting that green light through my arm as I felt it’s energy course through me once more, but this time, while it still hurt, it wasn’t as bad as the rest before. Thank the Creators.

“How do you think we should proceed?” Cassandra asked me.

That surprised me, “now you’re asking me what **I** think?”

“You have the mark” Solas reminded me and Cassandra added, “And you are the one we must keep alive. Since we cannot agree on our own.”

Taking a moment to think I considered our options. As Cassandra said we could charge with the soldiers to the temple, but with the possible bulk of the demon hoard in our path, it wasn’t the safest route. While Leliana’s suggestion, going through the mountains while the soldiers provide distraction could be safer if not direct. We could charge in with the soldiers. But . . . . . if the soldiers are anything like the people back in the village . . . . If the soldiers see either of us and if they already think us guilty, the soldiers may try something during the chaos of battle . . . . .

I’ve made my decision, “use the mountain path. Work together, you all know what’s at stake.”

“Leliana, bring everyone left in the valley. Everyone,” said Cassandra.

Our group, with one more swordsman joining us, continued across the bridge out of the camp towards the mountains.

“On your head be the consequences, Seeker,” Chancellor Roderick called after us.

“You are never leaving my sight again,” I heard Colin say to Lin I assume.

“You say that all the time but you know that never lasts,” she said almost teasingly.

“Really? Because this time I think I’m going to make is last since the last time you wandered off, a temple of a foreign religion exploded, blew a bloody hole in the sky and now monsters are pouring out from it in droves all with the intent of killing us all. When this is over, we are going to have a long talk about you wandering off on your own.”

“And I miss you too Colin,” she said sweetly.

He was silent for a moment before groaning, “you are going to give me grey hair before I turn thirty.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I mentioned before Lin is from the Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess years after the game ended which is why Colin is an adult here. And he will be a constant worrywart throughout if I get my way. XD  
> A few Twilight Princess OCs coming later.  
> 


	4. Just Getting to the Breach was the Easy Part. Who knew?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who knew running up a mountain, going through an abandoned mine, fighting hordes of demons, closing small rifts, fighting more demons and finally, finally getting to the Temple of Sacred Ashes, or what’s left of it and reaching the Breach . . . . . was the easy part.

 

The trudge up the mountain path was strenuous to say the least. The snow was blowing and naturally it was bloody cold. Cassandra, Varric, Solas and I were mostly silent as we hiked up the mountain while only Lin and Colin talked most along the way. It was mostly of her explaining the situation as we know it, what happened during the journey from the dungeons to the forward camp and the possibility of me closing the Breach and him asking questions in between. They mostly talked in the Common Tongue while slipping into that strange language of theirs occasionally. A few times she mentioned some words that sounded like names; like Viana or Tara or Ryuri.

“So, now we’ve established that you two know each other for sure, what’s your story?” Varric asked. Here we go.

“You asking since I have no story with him?” Lin asked pointing at me, “you fishing for something?”

“Called it me being nosy,” he said.

“That certainly is accurate,” Cassandra said up front.

“So how do you two know each other?” Varric asked again, “you know not many humans and elves are exactly friendly with each other, given their uh . . . . . history together and all, but you two seem very chummy.”

Colin was about to say something when Lin said something to him in their language, he looked at her strangely. Lin just shrugged before Colin answered, “my father and Lin’s father were friends for years and I knew her father since I was a child.”

“And I knew Colin since I was little,” Lin added.

Varric looked a little surprised, “ah association through family and friends then,” said Varric.

“Colin always played me since I was little,” said Lin.

“Babysitting is what she meant,” said Colin.

“So he’s more a big brother to you then eh?” Varric asked.

“Yes, what else would he be?” Lin asked.

“Nothing,” Varric said innocently.

Before long we finally came close to the top where we found what seemed to me an abandoned structure of sorts, with manmade stone ledges, pulleys and ladders leading up the mountain. 

“Right. Up we go then,” said Lin.

One by one we climbed up the ladders.

“The tunnels should be just ahead,” Cassandra called out, “the path to the temple just beyond that.”

“What manner of tunnel is this? A mine?” Solas asked.

“Part of an old mining complex,” the Seeker answered, “these mountains are full of such paths.”

“And your missing soldiers are in there somewhere?” Varric piped up.

“Along with whatever has detained them” Solas added.

“We shall see soon enough,” she said.

When we all managed to get to the top, an opening in the mountain side stood a little ways away, beckoning us to enter. Of course it was dark, misty and very likely filled with things lurking within. Not a moment after we set foot in the mine demons cropped up from within. There were a few of them and with three warriors, two mages and a rogue, we made quick work of them. Once the demons were thoroughly dealt with we picked our way through the mines. It was a stone structure that looked more like a ruin of sorts rather than a mine, pockets of sleets of ice covered the floors making it dangerously slippery, old crates, boxes, sacks and pots, possibly from past miners, were scattered throughout the mine.

“It’s dark in here,” we’ve heard Lin’s voice.

There was a shuffling sound and a flick before a light bloomed around us, the light source was from a lantern Lin was carrying.

“Where did you get that lantern?” Varric asked. She just shrugged.

Though still dark enough, some day light from cracks above shone through showing glittering pillars of ice among the stones from the frozen snow outside. After moving through the mine for a time, it wasn’t long until we came across more demons and made quick work of them as well. After the last demon was struck down we finally found the mine’s exit. Along some bodies lying just outside.

Varric sighed “guess we found the soldiers.”

“That cannot be all of them,” said Cassandra.

“So the others could be holed up ahead?” Varric said surprisingly optimistic.

“Our priority must be the Breach,” Solas pointed out, “unless we seal it soon, no one is safe.”

“I’m leaving that to our elven friend here,” said Varric.

Picking up the pace I ran across the snow towards the Breach, half hoping I may come across the missing scouts if Cassandra was correct about that not being all of them dead at the mine’s exit and perhaps save them as well. But Solas was correct, if the Breach isn’t sealed soon, I nor anyone will be safe anywhere, sealing it must come first. But thank the Creators that won’t be an issue now, in a short distance I saw another rift with more demons spilling out and fighting them were the soldiers! Lin who was beside me looked at me, a moment passed between us before she unsheathed her sword and I grabbed my staff. We both made a dash towards the fight with the others following. We fought like any other battle before, the others handled the demons, Lin stood by while I used the mark on the rift.

With the first wave of demons gone one of the scouts called out “Lady Cassandra!”

“Lieutenant! You’re alive!”

“Just barely.”

But before anymore words can be exchanged the rift opened again, more demon spawn came out and this time pockets of strange green crystals started poking out from the ground. Are these caused by the rift? This time Lin stood by Colin who was proficient with a blade and fought like a man who has been in many a battle. The two moved in almost perfect sync, assisting each other on a particularly strong demon. With the last of the demons killed I raised my hand to the rift once more, like the previous ones, the rift closed for good.

Solas appeared beside me “sealed, as before. You are becoming quite proficient at this”

“Let’s hope it works on the big one,” said Varric.

Meanwhile Cassandra was helping the lieutenant her feet, “thank the Maker you finally arrived, Lady Cassandra,” she said, “I don’t think we could have held out much longer.”

“Thank our one of prisoner, Lieutenant. He insisted we come this way,” said Cassandra, gesturing to me.

“The prisoner? Then you –” the lieutenant began.

“It was worth saving you, if we could” I said, giving her a small bow.

“Then you have my sincere gratitude,” she said.

Cassandra pointed in the direction to the mines, “the way into the valley behind us is clear for the moment. Go while you still can.”

The lieutenant nodded, “at once. Quickly let’s move!”

“The path ahead appears to be clear of demons as well” Solas observed.

“Let’s hurry before that changes,” said Cassandra.

We made our way down the mountain path.

“Down the ladder. That’s the way to the temple,” she said.

After walking several feet I found the ladders Cassandra mentioned and descended them both to the bottom and continued our way down. By the looks of it, this path seemed to be a back entrance of sorts.

From behind me I heard Varric ask “so . . . holes in the Fade don’t just **accidently** happen right?”

Solas answered “if enough magic is brought to bear, it **is** possible.”

“But there are easier ways to make things explode,” Varric pointed out.

“That is true,” Solas admitted.

“We will consider how this happened once the immediate threat is past,” said Cassandra.

Before long we came across large spikes of rock protruding from the ground, when we got close I noticed . . . . . . large green glowing veins along the surface of the rocks. That wasn’t normal. When we got to the first remnants of the ruins . . . . . .

“The Temple of Sacred Ashes” Solas remarked.

“What’s left of it” Varric added.

“That is where you, both of you walked out of the Fade and our soldiers found you,” said Cassandra, “they say a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was.”

We jumped down from a ledge and onto a clearing. The broken pieces of rock and stone rubble littered the ground, the unnatural green light surged through the stone cliffs possibly twisted and shattered from the explosion. And of course bodies of those who were not unfortunate enough to survive were scattered across the ruins. Lin walked up next to me, we both stood there, looking at the carnage around us. Motionless and charred to the bone, freezing them in whatever horrid positions they were moments before they died. Many of them were still burning. Bleached white bones of those whose flesh burned off in an instant crunched beneath our feet. So much waste, even if they were humans.

“All these people . . . . .” I said.

“How did we survive this?” Lin whispered. She looked ill.

I had no answer. Colin appeared behind Lin, placing a comforting hand on Lin’s shoulder who, I realized, was shaking. I don’t blame her for being shaken, I would be too, when being surrounded by so much death. He whispered something in her ear, perhaps comforting her when she turned and hugged him tightly while he patted her gently on her head and rubbed her back. They were like this for a moment when Cassandra reminded us we need to get to the Breach. We did.

We went through a broken corridor, it’s passage lined with bodied when we finally entered the temple and came upon a ruined courtyard, in its center the threat that not only endangers the world, but myself. The Breach.  If what Solas says is true, if I don’t find a way to close it, the mark on my hand will kill me. A massive rift floated in the courtyard, the Breach swirling in green magical energy high above.

“The Breach **is** a long way up,” Varric stated.

While contemplating about how in Creators’ name am I supposed to get up there when a voice called out to us.

“You’re here, thank the Maker.”

We all turned to see Leliana and the other soldiers come to join us.

“Leliana, have your men take up positions around the temple,” said Cassandra.

Leliana nodded and left.

“This is your chance to end this. Are you ready?” asked Cassandra.

Yeah sure, if I can get up there that is, “I’m assuming you have a plan to get me up there.”

“No. This rift was the first. And it is the key. Seal it, and perhaps we seal the Breach,” Solas suggested.

Great.

“Then let’s find a way down. And be careful,” said Cassandra.

We circled around the rift looking for an opening leading down to the courtyard when suddenly . . . . .

“Now is the hour of our victory. Bring forth the sacrifice,” a male voice echoed out from nowhere.

“What are we hearing?” Cassandra said, startled by the disembodied voice, like the rest of us.

“At a guess; the person who created the Breach,” Solas said with strange calmness.

Further along, by the edge of the stone cliffs, red crystal like pillars protruded from the rocks.

“You know this stuff is red lyrium Seeker,” said Varric, worry laced in his voice.

“I see it Varric,” said Cassandra, she too sounded worried.

“But what’s it **doing** here?” he asked, he sounded . . . . . agitated.

“Magic could have drawn on lyrium from beneath the temple . . . . . corrupting it,” Solas suggested.

“It’s evil. Whatever you do, don’t touch it. I’m talking to you little girl,” Varric eyed Lin.

Thankfully Colin had enough sense to pull Lin away from the red lyrium even before Varric said to not touch it. I’m not sure what red lyrium is exactly, but if it’s anything like regular raw lyrium, we’d better stay clear of it; especially mages like me. Giving the red lyrium a wide berth, we passed more of them and before we went any further . . . . .

“Keep the sacrifice still,” the same voice rumbled through the air.

“Someone help me!” this time, a different voice was heard, a woman’s.

“That is Divine Justinia’s voice!” Cassandra exclaimed.

Not wasting any more time we circled the courtyard until finally we found a way down to the base of the rift. We closed in to the rift when the mark on my hand flared again, this time my entire hand glowed with energy . . . . . .

“Someone help me!” Divine Justinia called out again.

“What’s going on here?” wait that was –

“That was your voice,” Cassandra ended my thought, “Most Holy called out to you but . . . . .”

She didn’t finish when there was a bright flash of light, blinding us for a moment. When it cleared, we couldn’t believe our eyes. Before us was an image, a vision of Divine Justinia floating and bound by some kind of red magical energy, standing before her was a tall ambiguously shadowy figure with glowing red eyes. Then suddenly images of Lin and myself appeared.

“What’s going on here?” my image said.

“Run while you can! Warn them!” Divine Justinia’s image cried out.

“We have intruders,” the shadow figure said as he pointed at us, “slay the elves!”

The moment the shadow gave an order to ‘someone’ to kill us, the images disappeared in another bright flash. When it too vanished Cassandra turned to me.

“You **were** there! Who attacked? And the Divine, is she . . .? Was this vision true? What are we seeing?”

“I don’t remember!” I shouted, I really don’t, and I hate it.

Cassandra looked at Lin who quickly said, “I don’t know either!”

Solas approached the rift, “echoes of what happened here. The Fade bleeds into this place. This rift is not sealed, but it is closed . . . . . albeit temporarily. I believe that with the Mark, the rift can be opened and then sealed properly and safely. However opening the rift will likely attract attention from the other side.”

“That means demons. Stand ready!” Cassandra rallied the soldiers.

The soldiers wasted no time in getting in positions, swordsmen and archers readied themselves for the coming fight. When they were ready, Cassandra nodded at me as she drew her sword and shield. I approached the rift and raised my hand to the rift, the mark connecting to the rift. A loud crack and boom sounded when a bolt of green energy shot from the rift. From its light emerged a demon, like Solas warned, but this time it was not like the others. Standing ten feet tall, covered in purple scales, sharp claws and horns; it opened it massive jaws and released a great roar.

It was a Pride Demon. This was not going to be easy.

“Whoa . . . that does not look very friendly,” Lin stated the obvious.

“Now!” Cassandra called to the soldiers.

We attacked. The Pride Demon laughed as it seemed to have drawn power from the rift, making its defenses powerful.

“It’s huge!” Lin called out, zigzagging underneath it, dodging its lightning whips and magic, slashing against its legs.

“We must strip of its defenses! Wear it down!”

After several long minutes of throwing everything we had at the demon, it didn’t seem like nothing was affecting it.

“Quickly! Disrupt the rift!” Cassandra cried out. The rift!

Taking that advice I used the mark on the rift, after a few tense moments of disrupting it, the interference of the rift brought the Pride Demon to its knees and its defenses were down.

“The demon is vulnerable. Now!”

Taking advantage of its vulnerability we attacked and it looked like this time it was taking damage. But it wasn’t long until it got back on its feet again and fought back with its claws and lightning magic. After a while the fight must have attracted more demons as lesser demons started coming through the rift. Now we had the Pride Demon and the lesser demons to worry about, along with the Breach. I managed to disrupt the rift once more, making the demons vulnerable again, thus allowing us to take advantage of it before they recovered. Even after we defeated the lesser demons and focused on the Pride Demon, more demons appeared hounding our progress; multiple soldiers who came with us were starting to fall left and right. This was getting pretty dire, if we don’t find a way to cull these extra demons . . . . . .

“This doesn’t look good,” I said.

Lin just happened to be standing behind me; I could hear her starting to be out of breath.

“Still think they’re ‘squishy?’” I asked half sarcastically.

“Ok,” she panted lightly, “now I’m starting to see why these guys can be such a pain.”

“You have no idea,” I muttered, “we’re going to need something to clear these demons if we want to take down the Pride Demon.”

“Hold on,” she said, pulling out that same ornate bag she stole out from the tent in the village. “Cover me!” she said.

“What?” I said. Lin ran off. “Lin!”

A demon attacked, distracting me. I’ve lost sight of her for a minute when, “coming through!” Lin shouted as she . . . . . flew passed me?

I turned just in time to see what she was riding on . . . . some kind of contraption that strangely looked and spun like a top as she glided across the ground. It caught everyone by surprise, even the demons as she mowed them down while riding that contraption clearing the area of the lesser demons. Several moments later I noticed the contraption’s spinning motion began to lose momentum and slowing down. Lin noticed this when she pulled out a long metal strip, lowered it to the gears around the top edges of the contraption, let it get caught and wind around it, she gave it a tug and renewed its spinning force. She glided across the courtyard, making few jumps and spins, smashing into the Pride Demon’s legs. It roared and tried to swipe at her but she managed to dodge and flew out of its reach.

“Now! Attack now!” Cassandra shouted.

Finally shaking off the shock of Lin’s new ‘weapon,’ the rest of us continued our attack on the demon with surprisingly renewed earnest.

“What is that she is riding?” Cassandra called within the chaos.

“Something she wasn’t supposed to use; it’s a prototype, it hasn’t been tested yet!” Colin shouted his answer.

“Looks like it works fine to me!” Varric joked.

“But what sort of contraption is it?” Solas asked, lobbing a fireball at the demon’s head.

“A Spinner!”

“I can see why!” said Varric before he muttered, “oh sh –”

The Pride Demon had turned its attention to Varric and unleashed a whip of lightning magic towards the dwarf, it was about to hit him when –

“I gotcha!” Lin yelled, grabbing Varric just before the blast hit and dragging the screaming dwarf with her.

“Lin! That Spinner was not meant for two people!” Colin yelled at her while trying to dodge the demon’s magic.

‘ _A person and a half,_ ’ I thought, I couldn’t help myself.

“Get me off this thing!!” Varric screamed as he clung on her back for dear life when she rewound the Spinner. Lin on the other hand looked like she was having the time of her life. I do feel sorry for Varric.

Then, as if to remind us we in a battle, the rift set free another wave of demons. Damn it! More demons! Several were just about to overwhelm Solas and Cassandra when Lin came barreling through them and Varric, who seemed to have gathered himself (or at least trying not to scream anymore) shot any stragglers she missed.

“Leave the small fries to us, just focus on the big guy and the rift!” Lin shouted.

While Lin and Varric took care of the lesser demons, the others focused on the Pride Demon, I disrupted the rift again. It was weakening; its movements slowing and its attacks grew more desperate. Raising its claws over its head, an enormous sphere of magic forming to unleash a last desperate attack on us. Just when it was about attack, out of nowhere Lin on her Spinner suddenly leaped into our view in front of the demon with Varric pointing his crossbow at the demon and fired an arrow. When the arrow made contact with its face, it didn’t just hit the demon, it exploded! How did he do that?! Either way, that seemed to have done the trick when it finally keeled over.

“Now seal the rift!” Cassandra called.

Wasting no time before more demons came through I ran to the rift and raised the mark, the energy pouring from it to the rift.

“Do it!” Cassandra shouted.

It was taking longer than the others, considering it was the largest rift that should have been no surprise. The painful energy of the rift was coursing through my hand and my arm and seemed to spread across everything; it was becoming unbearable, like fire was burning from within. But I held out as long as I could, I couldn’t fall now, I need to . . . . . .

BOOM!

The world that was once green in my eyes now faded into black; and I knew no more.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For starters the Spinner, as Colin said, is a ‘prototype,’ meaning I figured after defeating Ganondorf, since the Spinner is an ancient technology I thought Link would lend it to Shad and Auru and they try to maybe make more Spinners and improve it. And possibly working to improve the other items in Link’s inventory like the clawshot and such.
> 
> Although I was going for the Spinner in Hyrule Warriors but since it’s supposed to be a prototype of sorts it wouldn’t be able to do all those crazy stunts like the slamming moves, making more spinners and the like. It would be more limited to being able to glide across the ground, with the zigzagging and maybe the circular moves.
> 
> And maybe to show off Hylian tech in Thedas just to show how advance they are by comparison even with the Qunari.
> 
>  
> 
> The Wrath of Heaven finished! Next up 'The Threat Remains.'

**Author's Note:**

> Since this is my very first post I will welcome feedback, opinions, critics or whatnot. Let me know how it looks.  
> But please no put downs or rude insults just for the sake of being offensive. They will be ignored.


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